Whether you are one-to-one, have select computer lab time, or even limited access to technology, learning a few Google apps can be really helpful for amping up some lessons or even organizing your own teaching resources. Lucky for us, Google has its own training available for educators similar to the Apple training we blogged about last week! So what are the big differences and which one makes more sense for you to try to accomplish this summer?

The beauty of becoming a Google certified educator is that you can use Google resources no matter what type of device you are using. I just switched from a mac school to a chromebook school...I used Google apps before and I will continue to use them now! It is a great transferrable skill. Unlike the process for becoming an Apple certified teacher, becoming a Google certified educator does cost some money. Taking an Apple assessment simply required the click of a button. Taking a Google certification assessment requires you to register and pay a fee before an assessment is made available to you (within 24 hours).Another big difference between the two distinguishments is the leveled certification Google offers. There is basically one track to becoming an Apple teacher...take the assessments and pass. The end. There is much less time commitment, especially since so much of Apple is built to be intuitive and the multiple choice assessments are easy to take and re-take. If your goal is to get that Google certified educator badge for your resume, you have to pass the level 1 or 2 certification assessment. While a lot of the Google apps are pretty intuitive, you are expected to know some specifics before attempting the $10 or $25 matching, multiple choice, and performance event based assessment. What I like about this is that there is a lot of work to becoming a Google certified educator, it really is an accomplishment to get through all of the work. I really like that they leveled their certifications to distinguish between the different skill levels needed to be a level 1 or level 2 Google certified educator.Once you have become a level 2 educator, you do have the ability to become a trainer or innovator.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE DECIDING IF PUTTING THE TIME INTO GOOGLE TRAINING IS SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DO:How often do you use or want to use Google apps? If you never use Google apps and are just stepping into using them, there are a lot of training videos available on the Google educator site that have nothing to do with getting certification. It’s ok to dip your feet in and get a little bit of free training before diving into the full certification process! If you are ready to fully utilize Google and would like to integrate it into your curriculum next year, it might be a good time to dive right into the certification training!

How much time do you have to devote to pd this summer? There is an ETA for each “chapter” of material so you have a good estimate of the time involved!

What prior knowledge do you have about Google apps?If you have a lot of familiarity with Google apps, you may be able to take the certification quizzes without going through the whole training process. Google provides some sample exam questions so you know what to expect as well as an easy to read outline of what each chapter in the training entails. If you have no prior knowledge of Google apps, maybe you want to start at the free training/fundamental videos or level 1. Look through some of the material and it should be pretty easy to tell where you land!

I am in the process of level 2 training right now and I really like the layout of their training! I will give some updates as I learn and I’m excited to develop lessons where technology enriches the experience! Who else is up for some Google training this summer? Click here to get started!​

A really good PD option for a teacher that works in 1:1 schools or district is being a teacher expert in your type of device or program. Apple and Google both have options for teachers to become certified in their products.

In this post we will go through the steps to becoming an Apple Teachers and what kind of resources you can use for professional development through Apple.

The first step is go to the Apple Education site. There you will find articles, tips, resources, and other teacher stories to learn new things about using Apple products in the classroom. On this page there is also a link to a resource called Apple Teacher. You will need an apple id to sign in.

Then once you are in there are more options of resources. The best place to start is the section on becoming an apple teacher. This is a professional development program where you go at your own pace and take quizzes over different apple programs. There is an iPad path or a Mac path. When you pass the quiz you get a badge for each section.

​After you choose your path, you will see the different programs that you can work on. When you select one, it brings to your resources to help you learn the program if you need to brush up on it. When you are ready you can take the quiz over the program. If you get at least 4 out of 5 questions correct, you will receive your badge. They keep track of the badges you have earned on your profile page.

Once you have made it through all of the programs, you will receive an Apple Teacher icon that you can use on your credentials. They also make available more resources and additional badges you can earn for different programs.

Becoming an Apple Teacher is a good way to learn the programs for the system you are using. It is free and a way to take charge of your technology learning, especially since many districts do not offer system specific program training. Once you go through this process Apple has many more steps you can take to gain even more knowledge of Apple products and how to use them in the classroom.

Are you wanting to organize a professional development day for a group of teachers? Summer Institute or Edcamp may be for you!

What is the difference between an Edcamp and Summer Institute?

A summer institute is a more formal professional development opportunity with scheduled speakers, sessions, and presentations. The presenters can be your fellow teachers and staff or outside presenters that you bring in. A summer institute lasts usually around a week to two weeks. It is a great way to get professional development in a small time frame and learn from peers and experts in their fields.

An edcamp is typically described as “unconferences”. They are typically one day in length and are created by the participants when they show up that day. It is not meant to be a presentation but a discussion about topics that teachers are interested in. The Edcamp organization describes them as “free, organic, participant-driven, un-conferences that empower educators to maximize professional learning experiences and peer networks.” They have a bunch of resources on their site if you would like to find an edcamp near you or organize one. Below is a video that gives an overview of what an edcamp is. Both options are great ways to learn new things over the summer that can give new life to your teaching practice or offer you an outlet to share your experience with other teachers. You get a chance to learn and network with other teachers which is always a good thing in our business.

PLANNING OUT YOUR SUMMER INSTITUTE

Check with your district about PD funds. Can you pay presenters or attendees as an incentive? Can you use a school building? Are there particular dates to avoid so that you don’t conflict with major pd or camps that would affect the teachers you want to serve?

2 Months before - Get Presenters. Once you have a date, location, and possible incentives, send out an invitation to gain presenters. You will need to collect information such as when they are available, what they will present about, and how many people they can host in their session. I would suggest using a google form to collect the information. Set a due date for session presenters to sign up. If you are working on a budget with paid presenters and attendees, be sure to let your presenters know that their session will need to “make” in order to have it run as a paid session.

1 Month before - Get Attendees. Once you have all of your potential presenters, it is time to get your attendees! I used a google doc to create the event schedule and linked each session to Eventbrite so attendees could sign up (or cancel) themselves. Eventbrite will send email reminders to your attendees as well as provide easy access to a spreadsheet roster and class count for each session.

1 Week before - Reminders and final details. Eventbrite will let you export class rosters with all pertinent information. Pulling emails from the sheet allows you to send reminders to your participants so that the event is well attended! It is also a good idea to check back in with your presenters to be sure they don’t have any scheduling conflicts that have come up in the past month. Remember, they signed up for this 2 months ago and crazy things happen! You will also want to give final numbers to your district or businesses who are helping to fund either payment or prizes for your event. You’ll also need to be sure all the rooms your presenters are using have the appropriate setup or technology for the sessions. Create signage to help attendees find the rooms easily and export your rosters for a sign in sheet and you are all set!

The Event! ​ On the morning of the event, be sure all the rooms you are planning to use are unlocked and the lights are on. Set up a registration/sign in table and post your signage in the building. Because the presenters and attendees signed up ahead of time, it really runs itself at this point! Have fun and be sure you get to attend a couple of sessions!

PLANNING OUT YOUR EDCAMP

Check with your district about PD funds or visit with local businesses about donating prizes. Can you pay presenters or attendees as an incentive? Can you use a school building? Are there particular dates to avoid so that you don’t conflict with major pd or camps that would affect the teachers you want to serve? Can you incentivize attendance with a prize raffle? It's a great idea to try and get donations for breakfast since the first bit of edcamp is getting to know each other and signing up to present or host discussions. Having breakfast and some raffles gives people something to do while they mull over what they want to attend or present.

Register with Edcamp if you want to follow the true tenets of an edcamp. They also have an edcamp in a box to help you get started building your own edcamp.

(at least) 1 Month before - Get Attendees. It’s time to advertise! Remember, ed camps do not have a set schedule of sessions to sign up for and requires attendees to give impromptu sessions on the spot (though it is a good idea to secure at least a few volunteers to guarantee a session!) Many people have never been to an ed camp so it is important to include some explanation of the set up in your flyers, Facebook event, email invitations, etc. Again, I would suggest using Eventbrite for attendees to register.

1 Week before - Reminders and final details Eventbrite will let you export class rosters with all pertinent information. Pulling emails from the sheet allows you to send reminders to your participants so that the event is well attended! You will also want to give final numbers to your district or businesses who are helping to fund either payment or prizes for your event. You’ll also need to be sure you know what type of technology you have in each room so that presenters can sign up for a room that suits their presentation. Create signage to help attendees find the rooms easily and export your rosters for a sign in sheet and you are all set!

The Event! ​On the morning of the event, be sure all the rooms you are planning to use are unlocked and the lights are on. Set up a sign in area which could include a raffle, breakfast, a photo booth, and more. When attendees start showing up, someone should greet them and show them what they can do until the first session. About 5-10 minutes after the scheduled start time, get everyone's attention and show them the master time sheet with available time slots and room numbers. Explain how the edcamp works (that people need to sign up to present about a topic or host a discussion) and then release them to sign up to lead a session! From this point until the end, it is about helping suggest sessions or leading one if you need to. At the end, you can conclude with the raffle or closing remarks about the day! You made it!

The last day of school has just passed, the kids are gone, your room is cleaned, and your grades have all been finalized. This is when all teachers rejoice and all we can think of is sleeping. The last thing you are probably thinking about is PD.

We all know it is a myth that teachers have the summers off. Many of us teach summer school, attend conferences, work on curriculum, and some even work other jobs.

When it comes to how you spend your summer and how you recharge your batteries for the next school year, every teacher is different (Take our quiz to see what you may need to recharge!). It is definitely important for us to take time to recharge and take a defined break from teaching so that we can come back the next year ready and willing to teach.

Summer is a good time to reflect on the previous school year and work on becoming a better teacher for the next year. During the summer, we are free from the stress of having to plan lessons and manage the day-to-day of teaching and focus on making ourselves better.

We came across this article from Edutopia about developing a growth mindset in teachers. It is a good article that discusses the value of growth mindset in teachers and ways to incorporate those concepts into your teaching practice. We always talk about this being a good quality and skill for students, but it is equally important for teachers to be focused on growth and a willingness to learn and improve.

There are a lot of opportunities in the summer ranging from conferences, panels, college classes and webinars if you don’t want to travel.

Where do you find quality PD?If you are looking for something more involved you can look for local districts to host Edcamps or summer institutes. Don't know what those are? Don't worry! Next week we will be walking you through the steps of planning and implementing an EdCamp or Summer Institute at your school building or district. EdCamps and Summer Institutes are a great way to open up communication about what is happening in other classrooms and learn some new ideas from your peers!

Don't have time to set up a Summer Institute or EdCamp? You can find professional development in a lot of different places now. There are small PD bites and articles all over Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets. Many colleges also will offer specialized courses and programs for K12 teachers. The Department of Education in your state will also have professional development that you can turn to as well. We have found that sometimes the best pd is finding a group of teachers that are willing to try new things share opportunities and stories with each other. This summer our blog will also focus on PD to help you recharge and reflect over the summer.